“What O’Neil has is an instinctive sense of the need to sustain the life of the city within the market.” – Diversions Magazine

David K. O’Neil is an expert in the development of public markets and their local economies. He has been a consultant for over two hundred historic and new market projects, working with would-be entrepreneurs (including vendors, immigrants, minorities and farmers who had no previous entrepreneurial experience) to develop businesses that make money. Recent work includes projects in New Orleans (LA), Chicago (IL), Anchorage (AK), Dubai (UAE), Oakland (CA), Moscow (RUS), Detroit (MI), Charleston (SC), Ninotsminda (Rep. of GA), Roanoke (VA), Washington (DC), Boston (MA), Flint (MI) and Florianopolis (BRAZIL).

Mr. O’Neil is also a Senior Associate at Project for Public Spaces (PPS) in New York City and works with a network of individuals and groups that plan, design, develop and operate markets. With PPS, he recently completed research for the Ford Foundation to help markets become stronger vehicles for upward mobility and social integration. As the former General Manager of Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, he created and directed the overall market revitalization for ten years from 1980-1990. After Reading Terminal Market, he traveled the ancient trade routes of Asia, studying markets in cities and remote areas, walking over a thousand miles.